Reenforced container



Oct. 27 1925 0. w. ANDERSON REENFQRCED CONTAINER Filed Jan. 22, 1925 I l llllllmm A TTORN Patented Oct. 27, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OSCAR WILLIAM ANDERsON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIeNoR To ALEC J. GERRARD,

- OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

REENFORGED CONTAINER.

Application filed January 22, 1925.

I '0 all iii/1,0112. it may concern: Be it known that I, OSCAR \VILLIAM AN- DERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reenforced Containers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact' dea g n scription of the invention, such as Wlll enand able others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a bracing structure for shipping and other containing vessels and has for its object to provide a means of strengthening said vessels which will be certain in operation and less expensive to nmnufacture than those heretofore proposed.

\Vith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, in which like numerals designate like parts in all. the

views Figure 1 is a perspective view partly broken away of a container provided with this invention;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the parts shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional detail view of a portion of the parts shown in Figure 1;

- Figure 4 is a View taken on the line 44 of Figure 3 looking in the direction of the arrows. v

1 indicates the sides, 2 the bottom and 3 the ends of a shipping or containing vessel made of wood, and 4 indicates a cellular structure with which said vessel is provided.

5 indicates vertically disposed end strips or pieces attached to the ends 3, and 6 indicates grooves or mortises with which the sides -1 are provided in order to receive the ends 7 of the transverse pieces 8, as shown. The sides 1 are composed of a plurality of pieces 9 and 10 in order to construct said sides of a cheaper grade of lumber, and likewise the ends 3 are composed of a plurality of pieces 11 and 12 in order that said endsmay be less costly than when made of single pieces. In the same way, the bottom 2 of the container is made of a plurality of pieces 13, 14 and Serial NO. 4,014.

As is well known in the art of wooden box manufacture, lumber is now so high that" width sufiiciently great to extend up above the partition members 8, as shown, and just at the top edges of the partition members 8 holes 16 are made in each side member 9 through which wires 17 are passed. These wires 17 encircle the lower portion of the receptacle, including the side and bottom walls as well as the partition membersS as illustrated, and their ends 19 and 20 are brought together under the bottom 3 of the box as clearly shown in Figure 2. That is to say, the box is turned bottom upward and a suitable wire tying machine such as that illustrated in the Gerrard & \Vright patent,

No. 1,456,127 dated May 22,1923 is placed on the upturned bottom, whereupon the wire 17 is passed through the machine and the holes 16 on each side of the receptacle. Themachine is next operated ,to first tension this wire almost to its breaking point or to a tension of say 300 or 400 pounds suflicient for the wire'to bite into the corners of the box as illustrated at 22. The overlapping ends 19 and 20 of the wire are next twisted together as at 33, the wire cut off and the said ends tucked down underneath the main portion 17 of the said wire, all as will beclear thus produced will be appreciated when it i is considered that the strains brought upon a box ofthis character tend to distort the structure .and to permanently ,di'splace one member relatively to another. For example, the box shown in Figure 1 might be dropped from a height on the corner 25, which woul force or tend to force upwardlyas seen in Figure 1, the point 26 where the wire bites the box. But, the point 26 could not be displaced without straining the wire 17 longitudinally, and as the wire is enormously strong relative to the box structure to resist these longitudinal strains, the displacement of the point 26 will be so effectually resistedthat it will not take place to any appreciable extent. Tests have shown that before the point 26 can be thus displaced appreciably, the wire will actually bite into or cut into the box and the pieceswill often become broken. The same is true of any other displacement of the members of the box. structure. stance will be strained in directions longitudinally of their lengths and will thus resist with a tensile'strength amounting to something like 135,000 pounds to the square inch. That is, the'box will show a stifiness or a resistance to distortion very much greater. than could be' attained by even a first-class grade of lumber. The result of thus permanently bracing the box with one or more wires 17 under tension is to impart to a box made of an inferior grade of lumber a very much greater strength and a longer life than is possible with the same outlay of money when using only nails and other ordinary fasteners. Said wires 17 also enable a person to use a still cheaper grade of lumber and produce a box that will stand the same tests as will a box made entirely of lumber at amuch greater cost. In fact, many of the parts of the box such as the sides and bottom, when provided with this invention, may be made of thinner pieces v and of lower grade pieces than heretofore The wires 17 in every in-- and yet retain a standard of strength which could not be attained if the wires 17 were d omitted. 1

By extending the side members 9 above the top edges of the partition members 8 andpassing the wires 17 through saidside members, said wires become a permanent part of the bracing structure, and they being secured in place under tension they exert I a continual compressive action on the sides, bottom and partition members which firmly holds the parts together with the ends 7 of said members 8 disposed in said slots or mortises 6. So great is the .tension placed upon the wires that they bitefinto the corners of the box sufliciently to be held permanently in place.

\Vhat is claimed is 1. In a wooden box, the combination of side and bottom walls; and a wire under tension forming a part of the bracingstruo ture passing through said side walls over said bottom wall, over a portion of the inside of the box, and having its ends secured together.

2. In a wooden box, the combination of side walls provided with perforations, and a bottom wall; a wire under tension forming a permanent part of the bracing structure passing through said perforations over por-. tions of said side walls, over said bottom wall, over a portion of the inside of the box, and having its ends twisted together.

3. In a wooden box, the combination of side walls, a bottom and a partition; a wire forming-a part of the permanent bracing structure passing through said side walls oversaid bottom and partition and having its ends twisted together under tension.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

OSCAR WILLIAM ANDERSON. 

